Warrants, Survey's, and Patents in Maryland

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Source

Land acquisition in Colonial Maryland followed the same basic "warrant, survey, patent" process as was implemented in neighboring Pennslvania. the following is from the modern preface to "Kilty's (1809) Land-Holder's Assistant, and Land-Office Guide" on Maryland State Archives Online

Text

Cecilius Calvert, second Lord Baltimore and first proprietor of Maryland, laid the foundation for the land office a year or more before the first settlers sailed, when he drew up the initial "Conditions of Plantation," setting forth the terms by which colonists could obtain land. Calvert's source of wealth lay in the seven million acres of land granted to him by the charter he received from King Charles I in 1632. Proprietary revenues would be derived from the purchase money settlers paid for land, the annual quit rents owed to the proprietor, and the duties imposed on the tobacco they shipped to England. The principle of an exchange of land in return for transportation of settlers (the headright system) remained in effect for the next fifty years, although the terms of the exchange were revised a number of times during that interval. After 1683, unpatented land could be acquired only by purchase (or, rarely, as a gift from the proprietor, generally in return for services rendered). The customary procedure by either method consisted of a warrant for survey, a certificate of survey, and a patent conveying title to the property described in the survey. The patent set forth the conditions of tenure and the monetary obligations due to the proprietor.